Faerie
Faeries (Lia. onoseelie) in Besperian tradition are elven women who have symbolically renounced their mortality to serve as as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual worlds. Faeries are revered in Liashan for their role in communing with the spirits of the forest, providing blessings to supplicants and tending to sacred groves. Elven faeries are trained in a variety of arts, including music, theatre, and conversation, and can sometimes be found in the company of Liashan nobility as symbols of prestige and piety. Faeries in Liashan can attain certain degrees of celebrity, with the most renowned among them boasting great followings of admirers, including young girls who wish to follow in their footsteps. Faeries first began during the re-founding of the Agriagas religion during the height of the Namphyin Dynasty. The faerie-women of Liashan dress in several layers of vibrant silken robes and dress their hair in elaborate styles that incorporate headpieces and decorative flowers, but their most striking feature is their use of make-up to create otherworldly façades, painting their faces white with beautiful colored patterns. It is entirely forbidden by custom to touch a faerie, as the touch of a mortal is thought to defile their sacred quality, the physical contact believed to invalidate their immortal souls and doom them to dreamless death. All exchanges with a faerie are verbal, and blessings are transmitted from a faerie matron via their attendants (who have not yet transcended their mortal forms), often in the form of an offered gift (a trinket, drink or food), breathing on them, or a gentle caress. The concept of prostitution with faerie-women is more of a popular myth, though men will sometimes boast having slept with a faerie who surrendered her immortality to lie with him, but in actual practice sex was rare and forbidden among the mysterious sect of women. Festivals One of the Concert’s most celebrated festivals is the Festival of Faeries, in which a procession of faerie-women parade through the main street of Leiboi Song in full regalia and dispense boons and favor to onlookers. At the end of the festival, the most beautiful and graceful of the holy women is elected by acclaim to the be the Queen of the Faeries, a title which she holds for a year until the next festival. Notable faeries * Peach Blossom * Flowering Fragrance * Tranquil Sunrise * Windblown Cotton * Red Fawn * Walks with Shadows * Lotus on the Water Related * Hesistyri – The "Painted Ladies" of the Goddess Hesistyra oversaw and conducted the mystic rites associated with the Ancient Ioheman cult. It is believed that early Iohemans who came to Besperia encountered the elves' faeries and inspired the devotees of the Goddess of Love's iconic body paints. * Kifshaba – In Ushanra, there exists a class of matriarchs who have authority over an array of businesses or families. They can often be the most powerful individual in a town or city and often have sizable groups of followers who defend and enforce their interests. Category:Fairies Category:Elven traditions Category:Occupations Category:Agriagas Category:Prostitution